Pitino has communicated his interest in a possible NBA return to Kings ownership, sources say, and one league official describes the Maloof family as “intrigued.”

It is believed that Pitino intermediaries initiated the contact. No Kings offer is imminent and so far conversations have been exploratory in nature.

Sources caution that there are significant hurdles that need to be cleared before Pitino could become Sacramento’s coach, but say for a variety of reasons Pitino is feeling the pull of the pros again.

I can kinda understand Pitino’s itch for returning to the NBA, but why the Kings? Why go to a team that seems to be years away? And in today’s NBA coaching climate, he may not even be around by the time the ship is righted. Pitino, whose lone winning season was with the Knicks in 1988, has an overall record of 192-220 in his 6 seasons in the NBA. Ironically, the Kings job is eerily similar to his last in the NBA with the Boston Celtics. We all know how that ended. To me, some guys just aren’t a good fit in the NBA game. Rick Pitino is one of those guys.